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Good Neighbors by Faith Barnidge: Hospice gala celebrates 'stars' of giving, offering support to others

Contra Costa Times

Posted:
05/21/2013 12:21:08 PM PDT

Updated:
05/22/2013 11:18:37 AM PDT

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Volunteer Bob King will be presented with the Sue Bruns Award for Philanthropy at Hospice of the East Bay's ìCelebrating Our Starsî gala June 1, at Diablo Country Club. He is being honored for his commitment of time and support for others.

Hospice of the East Bay will be "Celebrating Our Stars" at its gala beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 1, at Diablo Country Club, 1700 Clubhouse Road in Diablo, near Danville.

Enjoy an evening filled with dinner, dancing to the music of the Megatones, and silent and live auctions. John Hamilton of KGO's No. 1 rated travel and leisure show, "John Hamilton On-The-Go" will serve as master of ceremonies.

Volunteer Bob King will be presented with the Sue Bruns Award for Philanthropy for his generous commitment of time and support for others.

Proceeds will help Hospice of the East Bay continue to provide expert, compassionate, medical, spiritual and emotional support to families living with a terminal illness.

The "Friends of Bob King" are the platinum sponsors of the gala this year. Mr. And Mrs. James Laird are the gold sponsors. For more information, visit http://hospiceeastbay.org/.

MEF grants

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The Martinez Education Foundation recently awarded $104,054 in grants to teachers and staff throughout the Martinez Unified School District. Recipients include Alhambra High School ($36,474); Martinez Junior High School ($15,298); Vicente Martinez and Briones High School ($5,197); Morello Park Elementary ($9,371); Las Juntas Elementary ($23,101); John Swett Elementary ($3,501); and John Muir Elementary ($11,112).

MEF thanks and appreciates all of its donors and volunteers for their great support throughout the year that allows the organization the opportunity to make schools better.

Scouting recognition

Mount Diablo Silverado Council of the Boy Scouts of America and Las Aguilas de Diablo, representing area Eagle Scout alumni, invite all to their annual banquet to honor the 2012-2013 Eagle Scouts, Sea Scout Quartermasters and Venture Crew Silver Award recipients at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 30 at the St. Mary's College Soda Center, 1928 St. Mary's Rd. in Moraga.

The guest speaker this year is Coach Bob Ladouceur, all-time winningest coach in California high school football history, recently retired from De La Salle High in Concord.

Las Aguilas de Diablo will announce the winners of two $1,000 college financial aid scholarships and one $1,500 Centennial Year college financial aid scholarship at the event.

CVWC donations

The Clayton Valley Woman's Club recently held its annual Donations Luncheon at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Concord. Moneys raised by last year's fundraising activities were presented to Kim Castaneda and Jourdan Sanford for Foster A Dream; Kris Annette Jachens for STAND! For Families Free of Violence; Karen Hansen-Smith for the Clayton Community Library; Mary Spryer and JoAnn Caspar for the Clayton Historical Society; and Carol Longshore for the Concord Historical Society.

A Clayton Valley Woman's Club scholarship was awarded to Lissette Alaniz, a Diablo Valley College student who will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall to continue her studies in architecture.

Club members give time, money and items to various organizations throughout the year, including Read Across America, Prevent Blindness, Blue Star Moms, Heifer International and Pennies for Pines.

The club meets at 10 a.m. the second Tuesday of every month except July and August at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1092 Alberta Way in Concord. Guests are welcome to attend meetings and social events. Call 925-672-9448 for information or visitwww.claytonvalleywomansclub.org.

Chorale concert

The Diablo Women's Chorale spring concert, "Rollin' on the River" will feature American river songs in jazz, rock, pop, spiritual and folk traditions at 2:30 p.m. June 1, at the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church, 55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek. This year marks the 71st year of Diablo Women's Chorale concerts in our area.

Director Mary Sorenson and pianist Stephen Evans will join their lively crew of singers and musicians along with the River Rat Band in a concert all ages will enjoy. Following the concert there will be refreshments and a silent auction.

Here is your chance to take the children to perform a little community service this summer for seniors in care facilities and have a lot of fun with other like-minded volunteer families.

Any Body Can Sing is a program open to anyone who'd like to join in singing patriotic songs like "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful," "Grand Old Flag," "Yankee Doodle," songs from each military branch, and many more.

The ABC Singers welcome all ages to join them at 6 p.m. for events:

May 29, at Willow Pass Health, 3318 Willow Pass in Concord

June 4 at Legacy, 1790 Muir Road in Martinez

June 5 at Chateau I and II, 175 Cleaveland Road in Pleasant Hill, and other weekly singalongs throughout the summer.

No reservations are required. Just show up! For a full schedule of singalong opportunities or more information, call Maxine Chan at 925-969-9693 or emailmaxineabctram@aol.com.

Relay for Life

Relay for Life is a 24-hour event to support the work of the American Cancer Society, held around the clock to recognize that cancer never sleeps, and neither does the fight against this disease.

Pleasant Hill's fourth annual relay will be held from 9 a.m. Saturday, June 1 through 9 a.m. Sunday, June 2, at the Pleasant Hill Middle School track, 1 Santa Barbara Road in Pleasant Hill.

The event is for a fantastic cause and you'll feel more like you're attending a festival with food, activities and live music. Contact Judi Richardson, event chairwoman at 925-957-9991, judiirich@comcast.net or Ken Housfeld, team development chairman, at 925-944-4898, kenhousfel@aol.com, to sign up for the event.

Whale of a program

At the Mini Motorland event hosted by the city of Martinez this spring, members of the Martinez Woman's Club presented their child car seat safety program, "WHALE." Members Doris Bonham, Kathy Braun, Carollynne Holmes, Stephanie Zichichi and club president Diana Palmer distributed kits and fliers to the families participating in the event in which tots ride their electric or pedal-powered cars and tricycles on a driving course set up at the John Muir Amphitheatre.

WHALE stands for "We Have a Little Emergency" and provides information about the child that can be found by emergency responders in case of an emergency.

It's never too early to learn about safety in the car and on the road. For information about the WHALE program or the Woman's Club, call 925 372-3633.

"Good Neighbors" is compiled by Faith Barnidge. Send club and organization news, Scouting items, notices of awards and other submissions to goodneighbors@bayareanewsgroup.com.